Gael Force blows into St. Louis

Saturday

Apr 26, 2014 at 6:00 AMApr 27, 2014 at 12:58 PM

By Irene Daly, SPECIAL TO THE ITEM

Gael Force did itself proud, finishing the qualifying rounds of the FIRST robotics competition with an 8-2 record, and in 12th place in the 100-team Galileo division. Unfortunately, the team did not catch the eye of another team to earn a draft into the medal round.

Saturday, Gael Force ended its competition season with a win, increasing its record to 8-2.

Friday, the first match of the day paired Gael Force with a team from Texas and one from Michigan. With the help from their partners, Gael Force's alliance defeated an alliance with two teams from Canada and one from Florida. Great teamwork on the part of whole the alliance gave Gael Force a 206-92 win.

The next match. Gael Force was paired with a team from Texas and one from North Easton, Mass. The alliance made a gallant effort, but the defense of the opposing alliance consisting of two teams from Michigan and one from California was too much for Gael Force and their partners.

In Gael Force's third match of the day, they were paired with a team from Michigan and one from Virginia. Again through amazing teamwork, the alliance was able to defeat the opposition, 190-109, even with the constant pressing defense of the opposing alliance.

In their last match of the day, paired with teams from Missouri and New York, Gael Force won 215-139. With the help of their talented alliance partners, Gael Force overpowered the opposing alliance made up of teams from Ohio, Canada and Indiana.

All in all, it was a fantastic day for the team from a little town by the dam.

Report after Thursday competition: Gael Force is in St. Louis for the FIRST Championship competition. At the end of the first day of competition, Gael Force was sitting very nicely in 13th place out of 100 teams in the Galileo division.

The team with their alliance partners, a team from Washington state and Missouri, did not start the day on a great note, losing the first match in a heart-breaker at the buzzer, 123-116.

The second match was much better. Paired with teams from North Carolina and California, the alliance won the match, 165-99. Gael Force performed extremely well, defeating the opposing alliance with teams from Virginia, Canada and Washington.

In the third match of the day for Gael Force, the team was paired with teams from Pennsylvania and Georgia. They defeated an alliance with teams from Minnesota, Texas and New Jersey, 220-123. This was another awesome match for Gael Force where the team worked well with their partners.

For the fourth match of the day, Gael Force played another exciting match with teams from Israel and Pennsylvania. Defeating an alliance with teams from Illinois, Texas, and California, Gael Force's alliance won, 156-100.

In the last match of the day for Gael Force, the team was paired with teams from Maryland and Florida. Allied with those two rookie teams, Gael Force performed outstandingly to defeat an alliance with teams from Arizona, California, and Georgia, 152-62.

The day was extremely exciting for the students and mentors on Gael Force. The students' performances were outstanding on and off the field from the drive team, strategy team, pit crew and controls team. Clinton should be extremely proud of this group of students representing their town at this international competition.